July/August Challenge: Don't Let This Happen to You
Two things, that is. Thing A:
That's not one but two of my knives stuck in a kohlrabi bulb. This situation required great strength and about three minutes to get out of.
And Thing B, the subject of this post:
That would be a delightful closeup of one of the five bags of greens I had to throw away because I couldn't get my act together in time to make them into something yummy.
The bounty of my CSA has, I admit, gotten the better of me these last few weeks. First, there was the aforementioned cooking rut that I had to drag myself from, and second, my CSA buddy had the audacity to go on vacation and leave all the veggies to me for three weeks in a row. Inexcusable, right? No single girl can eat that many greens... and I have the evidence to prove it.
So this month's challenge is - and I'm talking to you, Burghilicious - to eat your vegetables.
I don't mean eat vegetables in the sense that your mother means it. Blah, blah, blah, they're healthy, blah, blah, vitamins, blah, blah, I know. I mean it in the sense that your accountant means it: you paid for them, and they were not cheap. Who among us has not been tempted by something beautiful that is not on the list in the produce section? "I wonder what I can do with this cactus?" or "Wow! What a good price for broccoli rabe! I'll get a lot!" And then the foreign cactus and overabundant broccoli rabe sit in the bag in the crisper drawer where they morph into exhibit B up there... or they get pushed to the back where they freeze, thaw, and morph into an even goopier mess (not pictured). So this month, the edict is: If you buy it, you must eat it.
That's not one but two of my knives stuck in a kohlrabi bulb. This situation required great strength and about three minutes to get out of.And Thing B, the subject of this post:
That would be a delightful closeup of one of the five bags of greens I had to throw away because I couldn't get my act together in time to make them into something yummy.The bounty of my CSA has, I admit, gotten the better of me these last few weeks. First, there was the aforementioned cooking rut that I had to drag myself from, and second, my CSA buddy had the audacity to go on vacation and leave all the veggies to me for three weeks in a row. Inexcusable, right? No single girl can eat that many greens... and I have the evidence to prove it.
So this month's challenge is - and I'm talking to you, Burghilicious - to eat your vegetables.
I don't mean eat vegetables in the sense that your mother means it. Blah, blah, blah, they're healthy, blah, blah, vitamins, blah, blah, I know. I mean it in the sense that your accountant means it: you paid for them, and they were not cheap. Who among us has not been tempted by something beautiful that is not on the list in the produce section? "I wonder what I can do with this cactus?" or "Wow! What a good price for broccoli rabe! I'll get a lot!" And then the foreign cactus and overabundant broccoli rabe sit in the bag in the crisper drawer where they morph into exhibit B up there... or they get pushed to the back where they freeze, thaw, and morph into an even goopier mess (not pictured). So this month, the edict is: If you buy it, you must eat it.
So what to do with excess vegetables? You could...
1. Make a salad. Particularly if you have greens on your hands, as I did these past few weeks, salad is the easiest way to go, second only to calling the pizza guy.
2. Make a frittata, omelette or quiche. Whatever veggies you've got, they'll go great with eggs and cheese. I promise. Or...
3. Make empanadas, little delicious pockets of flaky crust stuffed with anything you like. Seriously, the point here is to use whatever spare vegetables
you have on hand. The recipe below is what I happened to have today, but you can be sure I'll be turning this trick again. FYI, this recipe made way
more filling than I needed, but now I have cooked the veggies, life is
easier. I could totally turn them into soup or something...
Spare Vegetable Empanadas
Inspired by Straight from the Farm
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large kohlrabi, diced*
4 small yellow squash, diced
1 large bunch kale, chopped
1 small bunch basil, chopped
3 strips cooked bacon, diced
2 ounces gruyère cheese, shredded
1 recipe empanada dough**
1 egg, beaten (optional)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté onions until they begin to soften, then add garlic and kohlrabi. Cook until you can stick a fork into the kohlrabi cubes, about 5-6 mintues. At that point, add the diced squash and bacon and cook for 3-4 more minutes, until squash still has some bite to it but is easily stabbed. Add the chopped kale and cook one minute more, until kale has wilted into the mix. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Roll out your empanada dough as thin as you can, about 1/8 of an inch thick. Use a cereal bowl or other ingenious utensil to cut out as many 6-inch circles*** as you can squeeze out. Gather up the dough, roll it out again, cut again, etc., until you have as many circles as you can.
Prepare a dish of water: it's time to stuff! Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of filling onto half of your first dough circle and top with a small bunch of grated gruyère. Use your finger to trace water around the edge of the circle, then seal the edges with your fingers or with a fork (above). Place the completed bundle of joy on the cookie sheet and repeat until you are all full up. Stash the extra filling - there will be a lot - and use it for an omelette, a soup, whatever. Baste with beaten egg if you so choose (I did not).
Bake the empanadas for 8 minutes, flip them over, and bake for 7-9 minutes more, until they are golden brown. If you use the egg wash, yours will be darker than mine. Serve them straight from the oven... but do let them cool a bit. I served mine with tomato wedges and sour cream. Feel free to use any sauce you can get your hands on!
Les Notes
*Because everything is going into a pastry pocket, you want small chunks. Mine were about 1/4 inch cubes. Same for the squash, or for any other vegetable you might use.
**I used this empanada crust recipe, substituting more white flour for the masa harina. I also substituted 2 tablespoons of bacon fat for 2 tablespoons of butter... because I am awesome. The recipe gave me 7 six-inch rounds.
***I actually used the bowl to mark the dough, then cut around the circles with a knife as none of my bowls have sharpened edges.
1. Make a salad. Particularly if you have greens on your hands, as I did these past few weeks, salad is the easiest way to go, second only to calling the pizza guy.
2. Make a frittata, omelette or quiche. Whatever veggies you've got, they'll go great with eggs and cheese. I promise. Or...
3. Make empanadas, little delicious pockets of flaky crust stuffed with anything you like. Seriously, the point here is to use whatever spare vegetables
you have on hand. The recipe below is what I happened to have today, but you can be sure I'll be turning this trick again. FYI, this recipe made way
more filling than I needed, but now I have cooked the veggies, life is
easier. I could totally turn them into soup or something...Spare Vegetable Empanadas
Inspired by Straight from the Farm
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large kohlrabi, diced*
4 small yellow squash, diced
1 large bunch kale, chopped
1 small bunch basil, chopped
3 strips cooked bacon, diced
2 ounces gruyère cheese, shredded
1 recipe empanada dough**
1 egg, beaten (optional)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté onions until they begin to soften, then add garlic and kohlrabi. Cook until you can stick a fork into the kohlrabi cubes, about 5-6 mintues. At that point, add the diced squash and bacon and cook for 3-4 more minutes, until squash still has some bite to it but is easily stabbed. Add the chopped kale and cook one minute more, until kale has wilted into the mix. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Roll out your empanada dough as thin as you can, about 1/8 of an inch thick. Use a cereal bowl or other ingenious utensil to cut out as many 6-inch circles*** as you can squeeze out. Gather up the dough, roll it out again, cut again, etc., until you have as many circles as you can.
Prepare a dish of water: it's time to stuff! Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of filling onto half of your first dough circle and top with a small bunch of grated gruyère. Use your finger to trace water around the edge of the circle, then seal the edges with your fingers or with a fork (above). Place the completed bundle of joy on the cookie sheet and repeat until you are all full up. Stash the extra filling - there will be a lot - and use it for an omelette, a soup, whatever. Baste with beaten egg if you so choose (I did not).Bake the empanadas for 8 minutes, flip them over, and bake for 7-9 minutes more, until they are golden brown. If you use the egg wash, yours will be darker than mine. Serve them straight from the oven... but do let them cool a bit. I served mine with tomato wedges and sour cream. Feel free to use any sauce you can get your hands on!
Les Notes*Because everything is going into a pastry pocket, you want small chunks. Mine were about 1/4 inch cubes. Same for the squash, or for any other vegetable you might use.
**I used this empanada crust recipe, substituting more white flour for the masa harina. I also substituted 2 tablespoons of bacon fat for 2 tablespoons of butter... because I am awesome. The recipe gave me 7 six-inch rounds.
***I actually used the bowl to mark the dough, then cut around the circles with a knife as none of my bowls have sharpened edges.
Eleanor said:
I am totally in the same predicament. I loaded up at the East Lib farmer's market last week and then Whole Foods attacked me. These look delicious... I see a lot of empanadas in my future.
July 15, 2008 9:00 AM
Laura Brown said:
Looks good! (Though I'd have to skip the bacon.) Over here the Prime Minister has been trying to get people to fight inflation by not wasting so much food. I don't believe he's offered any tasty Scottish recipes for spare veggies, though.
July 20, 2008 5:41 PM
jeff del col said:
Lauren
Re: the tough kohlrabi.
Next time use a cleaver. A chinese cleaver works very well. Its mass helps it slice through things a knife can't handle.
July 22, 2008 6:31 PM
Caroline said:
People should read this.
October 29, 2008 12:39 AM